| The former Booker T. Washington High School campus was the only high school for black students in the city of Philadelphia, Mississippi from its construction in 1948 to its closure in late 1969 during the era of desegregation. It is of national significance in the area of Law as the site of a legal dispute between parents and school officials in 1964 about students choosing to wear buttons that proclaimed the civil rights message, “One Man, One Vote.” A lawsuit brought by the parents ended at the Fifth U.S. Court of Appeals as Burnside vs Byars, and the court’s decision affirmed the First Amendment right of students to free expression at school. Burnside vs. Byars was cited multiple times by the U.S. Supreme Court in its definitive 1969 decision Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, which is recognized by legal scholars as “the most important Supreme Court case in history protecting the constitutional rights of students.” This school building was designated a Mississippi Landmark on 22 January 2021. It was was listed on the National Register on 2 September 2021. |